The Arizona Supreme Court this week rejected a 1990 state law that classified the presence of inert THC metabolites in blood or urine as a per se traffic safety violation. The Court concluded: “Because the legislature intended to prevent impaired driving, we hold that the ‘metabolite’ reference in § 28-1381(A)(3) is limited to any of a proscribed substance’s metabolites that are capable of causing impairment. Accordingly, … drivers cannot be convicted of the (A)(3) offense based merely on the presence of a non-impairing metabolite that may reflect the prior usage of marijuana.”

LEGISLATION

Oklahoma Becomes Third State This Year To Approve Unscientific Per Se Limits For Cannabis

by Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director
Posted on June 11, 2013June 20, 2022

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin has signed legislation, House Bill 1441, into law that criminalizes drivers from operating a motor vehicle if they have any detectable amount of THC and/or its inactive metabolites in their blood or urine. Under such internal possession statutes, known as zero tolerance per se laws, motorists who test positive for the presence of such compounds are guilty per se (in fact) of a criminal traffic safety violation, regardless of whether or not there exist supporting evidence that a defendant was behaviorally impaired by such compounds.